Apparently, Western Albemarle can throw a mean counterpunch.
After Orange ripped off 14 straight points to put Western in a big hole early, the Warriors found a rhythm and reeled off five touchdowns of their own to stay unbeaten and top Orange 35-14.
The Warriors haven’t been down often this season — they did trail Charlottesville for more than three quarters before rallying — but Western responded well when Orange took the early lead, passing a critical late season test.
“I think it’s just a testament to what a special bunch of kids that they are—they’re not going to quit,” said Western coach Ed Pierce. “They’re not used to a lot of adversity because we’ve been out in front of most teams. But the situations this year when we have faced it, they rise up and rally around each other.”
Western’s scoring spark came from an unlikely source—on a team stacked with offensive weapons and athletic defenders in the secondary it was massive defensive lineman Adam Frazier that got things going. The junior tackle stepped in front of an Orange screen pass, picked it off and rumbled for a 28-yard touchdown.
“You love it when a defensive lineman gets a touchdown, who can’t love that?” said Western linebacker Mitchell Parks.
Frazier had a strong all-around game, snagging a fumble recovery while also notching two sacks. His performance continued a growing trend at Western where a new unheralded player seems to come up with a big outing every week. Against Charlottesville, lightly used running back Adam Diehl had a huge second half to lift the Warriors and back in the season opener, linebacker Hunter Mitchell came up with a 35-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown against Waynesboro.
“It’s contagious — people are feeding off the fact that guys are willing to make to plays to support this team and that guys are not going to back down in tight situations,” Pierce said.
After Frazier’s score, Western’s offense found another gear with Stephen Schuler, who bounced back from an early interception that helped give Orange the 14-0 lead, picking his way to a 6-yard touchdown run and tossing a 7-yard touchdown to Dom Losco with 23 seconds left in the half. Those scores gave Western a 21-14 lead at the break.
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to strike after the break either when Schuler unleashed another toss to Losco and the senior wideout raced 55 yards for a touchdown. Cody Davis closed out the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors’ defense also locked up Orange’s multi-faceted offense after the early explosion, attacking Hornets quarterback Cameron Hughes relentlessly with Frazier, Nathan Johnson and several other defenders. Hughes, who tossed a 32-yard touchdown to Jamal Hunter to open the scoring, showed a lot of toughness, hanging in the pocket and making focused throws despite getting sacked several times.
“They sent a lot of people at him and sometimes we broke down,” said Orange coach John Kayajanian. “When we broke down, he took some shots but he kept throwing it and when he ran the ball he ran it well.”
The turnovers piled up for Orange and that shifted control to the Warriors. The Hornets moved the ball well throughout the game, but mistakes and an opportunistic Western defense proved costly.
“We turned it over too many times and a good team will capitalize,” Kayajanian said. “We battled the whole game, (it was) just too many mistakes against a good football team and it cost us.”
